While yesterday didn't exactly produce the results I predicted, it sure did produce some drama. Celtic left it real late for Leigh Griffiths, a man who was more than 50% doubtful to play, to take all three points versus Partick Thistle. Manchester City needed two late wondrous efforts from Yaya Toure and Sergio Aguero to steal victory from the jaws of defeat against Watford, ruining my upset special. Atletico went top after Barcelona drew. It wasn't one of the usual suspects scoring their lone goal though. Instead it was Ghanaian defensive midfielder Thomas Partey, coming on as a substitute to save the draw, that put home a late winner. The stunner of the day however was Sporting's complete dominance over Porto, 2-0. Islam Slimani's brace ended a 30 match unbeaten streak for Porto in the league that fell three weeks shy of a full calendar year. For today, we have an abbreviated version of the European football picks to supplement your American football. A couple of cancellations and weak schedules across Europe have left just three games to lay out over the course of the day. We'll start off in England in what should be a cracking start to the day on Merseyside.

Spurs are having their best season in the post-Gareth Bale era at White Hart Lane. The roster moves in the summer as well as some shuffling of responsibilities by Mauricio Pochettino has made this no longer a one man team. Harry Kane is in fine form for the current fourth placed club in England, but his club has made it so he isn't the lone source of goals. The cliched "playing as a team" sentiment is 100% what Spurs are exuding this year. From the goalkeeper and defense (league best 15 goals conceded) all the way to their goal getters (33 goals, fifth best), they have a legitimate shot at the Premier League crown. Everton on the other hand have had a more tumultuous go of it as of late. Romelu Lukaku is joint top of the scoring charts with Jamie Vardy and Ross Barkley is finally living up to the hype. But the defense in front of aging keeper Tim Howard has been a hot mess forcing the Toffees into all-out attack mode more often than not. That has made for some very entertaining games (4-3 vs Stoke, 3-2 vs Leicester, 3-3 vs Bournemouth) but not the best of results. Lukaku may nose his way ahead of Vardy for the Golden Boot. He may even get two. But in the end, even at home, Everton's defense will not be able to stop Spurs at any point in the match. They keep the pressure on the top three with a big road win.PREDICTION: Spurs 3Everton 2

GREEK SUPER LEAGUEOlympiacos FC vs Panionios FC (12:30 PM ET)

Aberdeen and St. Johnstone were cancelled in Scotland and Rio Ave was facing maybe the worst team in Europe currently in Tondela. That left me no choice but to take a maiden voyage to Greece as 42-time Greek champion Olympiacos take on Panionios. Olympiacos is a mainstay in European football and their rivalry with Panathinaikos is easily one of the deadliest in all of Europe. It is called the Derby of the Eternal Enemies for a reason. But it is not Panathinaikos across the pitch from The Reds today. It isn't even Panetolikos or Panthrakikos. What I am trying to say is there is a lot of similar sounding team names in Greece's first division. Instead it is Panionios, the last team in the playoffs at the moment in the Greek Super League. As has been the case with other leagues like Belgium, the Greek Super League has playoffs. The champion is granted immediate entry to the group stage of the Champions League. Teams 2-5 play in a playoff for the second entrant. The runner-up of those playoffs go into the Europa League along with the Greek Cup winner. Panionios has a very tiny resume in Europe with their best finish being the quarterfinals of the 1998-99 UEFA Cup Winner's Cup, a competition that was abolished directly thereafter. After all that wonderful information, let's get back to the game at hand. Olympiacos hasn't lost all year in the league. They are 15-0-0 with a 41-8 goal difference. This match will be a rough one for home team. It is probably best that it isn't available for viewership in America as it would have to be rated accordingly for gratuitous violence.PREDICTION: Olympiacos 4Panionios 0

SPANISH LA LIGAValencia CF vs Real Madrid CF (2:30 PM ET/beIN Sports)

The main event of both the La Liga schedule and the footballing weekend comes at 2:30 this afternoon in a huge match for both teams. My Spanish supported side Valencia, now with Gary Neville fully at the helm, take on Rafa Benitez's Real Madrid. Real Madrid can leapfrog Barcelona in the standings with a victory today, a notion that seemed impossible with the way the two teams were playing just a month ago. They have a struggle to deal with though as a desperate Valencia will be looking to get all three points at home to inject life into a sputtering side with a new manager in a new year. For Benitez, a win against the club he took to their last two La Liga titles, will have an extra special feeling to it. It will also ease a tiny bit of the mounds of stress he is under at the moment. Each mistake he makes it magnified and a loss to Valencia with a rookie manager could potentially be the last straw. Valencia is under duress themselves. Having been knocked out of the Champions League unceremoniously and sitting in the middle of the La Liga table, Valencia have needed that one signature win to propel them back in the right direction. They had their chances against Villarreal on New Year's Eve, but were ultimately second best on the day. Gary Neville has the fan's support at the moment, but supporters of Los Che can be just as fickle as Madridistas and if the former England youth coach can't pull them out of their rut he may be in just as big of a hole as his managerial compatriot in the other coach's box. I've been a bit a jinx lately on my favorite clubs, and my upset specials have been just as big of flops, but I'm going with Valencia to win this one. Real Madrid have way too many distractions at the moment, the latest being James Rodriguez's high speed pursuit onto the Bernabeu property. May the jinx stay dormant this afternoon.PREDICTION: Valencia 2Real Madrid 1

​I hope you enjoy this European supplement to your Week 17 American Football. I know the playoffs are just around the corner so expect the next few editions of the picks similar to this with you in mind. I want to expose as many people to as many leagues and experiences as I possibly can, but I know going against the NFL Playoffs is a losing battle. But don't you fret, the picks will not be going away. So let's raise that early morning beer up high and get ready for a jam packed day of football!

Happy New Year one and all! This is the first weekend of the new year so that means this is the first European football selections of 2016. While many leagues are still on winter break, many first divisions, most notably Spain, have made the decision to re-start their schedules early so their participants can have more time to prepare for the European Championships in the summer. Still, the pickings are slim but I will do my best to get some real good ones on the docket for you today. As Liverpool makes me regret waking up early after being up for nearly 24 hours the day prior, let's head to Scotland as I hope not to jinx yet another one of my supported clubs...again.

Celtic is still at the pinnacle of the Scottish Premiership table entering the new year. However, they haven't built their normal double digit lead at the top just yet. As a matter of fact, they are still level on points with second place Aberdeen after both teams could only manage draws in their final 2015 contests. They have two games in hand to get some breathing room, but this most likely won't be another runaway league win for the Hoops. Parity has reared its ugly head in another league and no team in Scotland exudes that more at the time than Celtic's opponent today, Partick Thistle. The Jags are unbeaten in their last six games and have played with a confidence previously unseen by the club since their 2013 promotion. Their 2-0 loss on August 9th, which could have easily been a repeat of the 6-0 League Cup drubbing from last year, seems light years away with how the team has played recently. They were the team to hold Aberdeen in their last game of 2015, absorbing flurries of pressure yet keeping their composure and shape. They will have to do the same in the hostility of Celtic Park today. Celtic have a novel's length list of injuries right now including over half of their normal starting XI (Leigh Griffiths, Dedryck Boyata, Stuart Armstong, Scott Brown, Kris Commons, & Charlie Mulgrew) being sidelined. This is the best time for Partick Thistle to get the Hoops. But, while I think they won't make an embarrassment of themselves, I don't think that Partick will be able to get even a point out of this road game. They'll make Celtic work for it, but in the end the green and white take all the spoils, probably with a penalty kick.PREDICTION: Celtic 2Partick Thistle 1

If you would have told me at the beginning of the season that Manchester City's first game of 2016 would be one of their toughest tests of the year, and it would be against Watford, I would have laughed you out of the room. But here we sit (me more somber as Andy Carroll just made it 2-0 West Ham) on this very day in 2016 with City needing to buckle down and take care of one of the EPL's surprise sides of 2015. Watford have been a revelation with the duo of Odion Ighalo and Troy Deeney terrorizing back lines with their combination of power and shooting ability. They shrug off oncoming defenders like hornets (sad attempt at a pun, FAIL) and get powerful shots on target regularly. They won't have to worry about shrugging off Vincent Kompany today as the Belgian international, and City captain, will miss the next month at least after re-injuring himself after less than ten minutes against Sunderland. City will rely even more on their attacking prowess as their lack of solidarity in their team's spine may force a Goal Royale with Watford. After some hemming and hawing, I decided that I was going to go with the upset here with Watford. Vicarage Road has been a fortress for them lately, and I say that they put a sky blue head on a stake outside their castle this afternoon with a signature victory.PREDICTION: Watford 2Manchester City 1

SPANISH LA LIGAAtletico Madrid vs Levante UD (2:30 PM ET/beIN Sports)

Atletico Madrid will know exactly what they have to do this afternoon to keep pace with Barcelona in the chase for the La Liga crown. Barca plays Espanyol at 10 AM. Atletico shouldn't need to commit any extra time to strategization though as they get dead last Levante today at the Vicente Calderon. Going forward I have a couple of ideas how they could improve their squad, but today should be a TCOB kind of affair. Levante have been lifeless all year and seem to be the only certainty for relegation from Spain's top flight. They can't score and they can't stop anyone which (Captain Obvious alert) is a poor formula for survival. Atletico, even with five international caliber forwards, have also been offensively challenged. But when you boast the league's best defense by a mile (8 goals allowed) it helps the proceedings a bit. Diego Godin has become a top 3 center back on the planet and keeps his defensive teammates organized better than any player I've seen in my football viewing lifetime. Hopefully they can inject some life into the offense today against the soon to be Segunda Division side. I've still got a soft spot in my heart for Fernando Torres.PREDICTION: Atletico Madrid 3Levante 0

Supremacy in Portugal is on the line today as the division's top two clubs collide in Lisbon. Sporting's loss to Uniao da Madeira before the break, their first loss of the year, means they will be chasing FC Porto for the first time since the early days of the Primeira Liga season. Porto will attempt to keep it that way as well as keep their own unbeaten start to the season intact. Porto are the second leading scorers in Portugal, but unlike Benfica and Sporting, the Dragões don't have one man that can get them a goal in crunch time. Vincent Aboubakar is the closest thing they have to that so far, but the Cameroonian can find himself out of games if he can't get into an early rhythm. He'll have to get in that rhythm early on because tonight's came is at Sporting's Estadio Jose Alvalade. As much as I want to see the chase of the Primeira Liga intensify, I can't see a result going either way in this afternoon's game. There will be too much caginess from both clubs who don't want to slip up and give Benfica, who sits in third, another chance to make up a full three points on them. However, Benfica will gain ground on both in that case as this one has a draw scent.PREDICTION: FC Porto 1Sporting Lisbon 1

I hope you enjoyed this opening installment to a new year of European soccer picks. Your hangover should be all but worn off by now so crack open a morning brew-ha and go across the pond with me. Be sure to come back tomorrow as we have at it yet again. Follow along with all the lunacy @TREVORutley and @B3WHYC3 on Twitter.

I hope everybody had a tremendous Boxing Day across the nation, world, and universe. I am just going to assume that whatever lifeforms exist on Jupiter use the same holidays as us Earthlings. Let me have my extraterrestrial ignorance. Anyhow, my Boxing Day was spectacular. Seeing Manchester United self destruct to start it and have Arsenal do the same to end it was all a Liverpool fan, win over the league leaders notwithstanding, could ask for. The Arsenal game may have put a smile on my face, but it just placed a cat turd topping on an already shitty sundae of picks for me yesterday. Aberdeen had to struggle for a draw in Scotland and Gent were dominated in Belgium. But I am hoping for a better day today. I won't have the full Premier League roster at my disposal this morning, but I'll still have three leagues to work with, including a new entry to the fray. So let's make our way to Scotland again, where some Bhoys are looking to take advantage of a lost opportunity from one of yesterday's selections.

With Aberdeen's missteps yesterday against Inverness Caledonian Thistle, my beloved Celtic FC have a chance today to build back their lead at the top of the Scottish Premiership. Their opponent is the always troubling Heart of Midlothian. Like Sporting Lisbon to Porto and Benfica in Portugal, Hearts were the third wheel in the title parade caravan of Rangers and Celtic for years. They placed third more than any other team in the Scottish Premier League era and is the only team to disrupt the Glasgow hierarchy in 2005-06 when they placed second behind Celtic. They are third again this year, but are ten points off the top right now level on games with Celtic but with two in hand on Aberdeen. With the Scottish schedule getting dicey over the next month and a half, now is the best time for Hearts to gain ground. Their hopes of victory are heightened by the fact that Celtic's main two attacking options, Kris Commons and Leigh Griffiths, will be unavailable for today's contest. Even with that being said, Nadir Ciftci has been a more than capable replacement and Stuart Armstrong, who was out for the Motherwell loss, will be back for the Hoops. They will have to beat the Keeper of the Season thus far in the Premiership though in Neil Alexander. The former Rangers netminder has kept a SPFL-best 7 clean sheets, even though as a former Rangers man I am obligated to show this hilarious own goal during their demotion to the third tier. It is going to be a tough game for both sides today, but I have to go with Celtic to get the full three points with probably a really ugly goal in wretched conditions.PREDICTION: Celtic 1Hearts 0

TURKISH SUPER LIGBesiktas JK vs Torku Konyaspor (12:00 PM ET)

Our first foray into Turkey takes us to its largest city, Istanbul, for Besiktas versus Konyaspor. Turkey has had teams succeed in European competitions before, most notably Galatasaray the 20 time champions of Turkey, but it is still a league that I am very unfamiliar with. Little did I know beforehand last year that former nemesis Demba Ba was on Besiktas as they eliminated Liverpool from the Europa League. Ba has moved on, but now the Black Eagles have another international caliber striker in their midst with Mario Gomez. The Fiorentina loanee is second in the Super Lig in scoring. Besiktas lead the league at the moment and look to widen the gap between them and Fenerbahce with a home win today against Konyaspor. Now if I know very little about the league leaders, I know absolutely nothing about the seventh placed team. I had to do the old "Wikipedia consultation" and the only thing recognizable I could find was that former Barcelona and Arsenal man Alexander Hleb had played for them. From what little game video I could find, they don't seem to be too interested in attacking football. They are strictly a counter attack team, and they don't even do that too well. Their journeyman goalkeeper Kaya Tarakcı has been their main reason for not being closer to the relegation zone. Tarakcı will get plenty of action today from Turkey's most potent offense and he'll hold his own. His offense will not give him nearly the needed support for the visitors to nick a point though.PREDICTION: Besiktas 2 Konyaspor 1

BELGIAN JUPILER LEAGUERSC Anderlecht vs KVC Westerlo (12:00 PM ET)

We'll end this day sadly with another game that you are going to need a foreign stream to see. But you'll have plenty of choices because when Anderlecht plays, all the European countries pick the game up. The most decorated team in Belgium's history is a UEFA Champions League regular and producers of some of the finest talents across the European football landscape at the moment. Anderlecht is well known for giving the youngest of debuts to their starlets. Celestine Babayaro was just 16 years and 87 days when Anderlecht gave him his first UCL start in 1994-95. They also boast the third youngest UCL participant ever in Youri Tielemans, who took his bow in October 2013. In more recent times they have been the starting point for Premier League superstars Vincent Kompany and Romelu Lukaku, who both got their starts with the club at 16. Today they take on bottom of the table KVC Westerlo, whose history, and present, is less than stellar. They've gone through three managers this calendar year ​and have let in a Jupiler League-high 41 goals. I don't expect anything less from today's game. If you are able to get a stream of decent quality (I'd try for the German or Spanish feed), keep your eyes peeled for not only Tielemans in midfield, but Dennis Praet up front. He's been linked to several Premier League clubs Arsenal and Aston Villa.PREDICTION: Anderlecht 3Westerlo 1

With the holiday season sending league schedules into a tailspin, there will be plenty of games across Europe all week. Unless you work from home, or not at all, cracking open a morning beer before your commute is probably going to be frowned upon. So get it all out of your system today with these three games, watch your fantasy American football dreams go down in flames (OK, I'm projecting here) and make the end of 2015 the best you can as we flip the calendar page one last time into a brand new 365 (nope, 366) days. Have at it!

Merry Boxing Day everybody! Or is it Happy Boxing Day? Either way, the day after Christmas is a huge focus in English football because all 20 Premier League teams play on Boxing Day. They also take the center stage because the majority of Europe's other major leagues take a winter break after the week before Christmas. But rest assured not all leagues are taking a football siesta at the moment so this will be anything but a one game picks column today. The first game of the day, Stoke City vs Manchester United, is already underway so let's not waste any more time. England gets the main event today, but we start just a bit north in Scotland as unexpected challenger takes aim at the reigning champion's prize.

Since Rangers' financial collapse sent them spiraling into the lower tiers of Scottish football, Celtic have ruled the Scottish roost with an iron fist. They've won the last four Scottish crowns and haven't really been challenged in doing so. That has changed this year with the re-emergence of Aberdeen. Aberdeen was the last non-Celtic/Rangers winner of Scotland's top division back in 1984-85. They were managed by some guy who you've probably heard of: Sir Alex Ferguson. Fergie ruled Scottish football for those two years with Aberdeen winning back to back titles as well as the European Cup Winners' Cup over Real Madrid in 1983. They also bested Bayern Munich on the way to that final. Since then Aberdeen has been more of a mid-table side with a couple of second place finishes sprinkled in here and there. This year is different. The Reds have split the season series with Celtic thus far and are just one point behind the champions, though they've played on more game. They can go top this morning with a win against Inverness Caledonian Thistle. ICT finished third behind Aberdeen last season, but have had a rough 2015-16. They were eliminated in the second qualifying round of the Europa League and are ninth in the league table. Their rough run continues today as not even Greg Tansey will be able to stop Aberdeen from going top.PREDICTION: Aberdeen 2 Inverness Caledonian Thistle 0

BELGIAN JUPILER LEAGUEKV Mechelen vs KAA Gent (2:00 PM ET)

Sadly, you are going to have to find yourselves an overseas stream for this one. Though the Belgians are making waves both on the international and club football scenes this year, there is no service for the Jupiler Pro League in the United States. In fact you'll be hard pressed to find this game outside of Belgium. That is a shame though as Gent has become one of the European stories of the year with their ascendancy to the top of Belgian club football. They had toiled in relative obscurity for years with a trip to the 1991-92 UEFA Cup quarterfinals being their claim to fame before last year. That was because for the first time in their 115 years of existence Gent won the Belgian first division title. Belgium's league set up is the most like the United States as they have a playoffs system to determine their champion. A team's points from the regular season are halved and rounded up, and then a final ten games, home and away, among the league's top six clubs determines their champion. Gent was able to upend Club Brugge for the title. This year they are in the driver's seat again, sitting five points clear of second placed KV Oostende after 20 games. They also made it to the Round of 16 in the Champions League, a first for a Belgian club since the UCL changed to their current format. They welcome in lower tabled KV Mechelen with a chance to extend that gap further. Mechelen is a bad defensive team, but usually make up for it at home with some potent offense. There will be goals in this one, just more will come from the league leaders.PREDICTION: Gent 3Mechelen 1

ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUESouthampton FC vs Arsenal FC(2:45 PM ET/NBC)

We finish off the day's picks in England with Boxing Day's main event between Southampton and Arsenal. Stoke City is making the day start swimmingly as they are up 2-0 on Manchester United with less than 10 minutes to go in that game. I was going to pick the Liverpool/Leicester City game, but I was afraid of jinxing my beloved Reds once again. Fool me once...etc etc etc. So this afternoon we have Arsenal and Southampton, a game featuring two skillful sides who love to fire them some crosses in. No team converted more crosses last year than Arsenal. Southampton were tied for second in number of crosses per game. The pace of both teams on the wings makes the need for players like Olivier Giroud for Arsenal and Graziano Pelle for Southampton in the middle so much more important. While Giroud has been in great scoring form for Arsenal, Pelle has been in Saints manager Ronald Koeman's doghouse for the last month after picking up a petulant yellow card to trigger a ban at the end of November. Koeman has utilized the Italian sparingly since but may need him today if he is going to go cross for cross with the league's best at that style. Though the games over the past few years have either been low scoring affairs or high scoring draws, I am going to take the best of both worlds for this one. I am taking the Gunners in a goal fest.PREDICTION: Arsenal 4Southampton 2

So I hope everybody has an exciting Boxing Day, or as us Americans call it, the day our spoiled brat children demand we return all the gifts they don't want to the stores. Instead of going on a "my generation" rant, I'll instead go watch Stoke/Manchester United highlights, pet my cat and smile for the fact that I plan on moving a total of 12-13 feet this lazy Saturday. Raise your bottle, can, glass, or flask and let's keep the holiday and football spirit flowing into the new year!

With this being the last picks before Christmas, I wanted to give the readers a big present this Sunday. Then Liverpool decided to put a lump of coal of a game in my stocking and it sapped all my will. So you can blame Adam Bogdan and the Reds defense for this edition lacking a certain holiday spirit. But even without my beloved Kloppites' wake-up call from hell, I wanted to address something today. Many of you readers, and I am thankful for the lot of ya, are getting very hung up on the club map featured at the top of all my picks articles. You tell me about the neglected countries and teams that have been relegated and yada yada yada. First, I didn't make the map. It was an image I found online that I thought was pretty cool and represented the dispersal of different clubs from Europe's top five leagues. Second, just because a country didn't make said map doesn't mean I will neglect them in the picks. The Swiss Super League, Russian Premier League, and Scottish Premiership are all not featured on the map, but have made their way into my picks over the past few months. I hope to add even more by season's end. So now that that's out of the way, and Liverpool are driving me to the hard stuff at 10 AM, let's head to another part of England for a hopeful palate cleanser.

Liverpool's recent form makes me feel really horrible, but I can't imagine what Swansea City fans have been going through this season. One year removed from a record point haul and Garry Monk finishing on the medal stand for Manager of the Year, Swansea is a shell of their former selves. Monk is out and the Swans sit in the relegation zone three points clear of safety. They started off well fighting for a draw at Chelsea and beating Manchester United in the first month. Andre Ayew won the Player of the Month for August. It has been a nightmare ever since. Just two wins since the United game is a bad omen for a team that showed such promise. West Ham started off with great promise as well, but it was a huge injury that started their less precipitous downturn. Dimitri Payet, a frontrunner for Player of the Year at the time, went down with an ankle injury and the Hammers haven't been the same. They still sit in eighth place, but Payet made them top four contenders similarly to how Riyad Mahrez and Jamie Vardy have invigorated Leicester City. Both teams are down on their luck, so that is why I am going with the home team in a gritty battle here. Swansea has two of their three victories at the Liberty Stadium and seem to have a pulse when playing in front of the home fans. It won't be a classic, but you'll get a hard fought game between two desperate sides and a nice goal to mask all the ferociousness.PREDICTION: Swansea City 1West Ham 0

I'll be the first one to admit when I'm wrong, and boy did I get my last Borussia Monchengladbach pick horribly wrong. Bayer Leverkusen, and Javier Hernandez especially, massacred the Borussians at the BayArena. I search for redemption today as I go with another Gladbach pick against promoted side SV Darmstadt. Darmstadt have been a relatively anonymous side this year in the Bundesliga. They haven't been beaten by any ridiculous margin, yet they haven't really claimed any notable scalps either. They are three points above the relegation playoffs at the moment and will at least stay as much with all the teams behind them already having played. They don't score a lot of goals, but when they do it comes from the duo of Marcel Heller and Aytac Sulu. They have 9 of the 15 goals the visitors have scored this year. They may add to their tally today as Gladbach's defense has been leaky of late, letting up 5 to Leverkusen and 4 to Werder Bremen in the DFB Pokal. However, I believe Gladbach will be pissed off and their offense will show up today and win an OK Corral special with the visitors in a very high tempo contest.PREDICTION: Borussia Monchengladbach 3 SV Darmstadt 2

The pressure continues to mount on Inter Milan at the top of Serie A. Juventus continues to surge up the table and Fiorentina has shown that they are here to stay in the battle for Italian supremacy. Both Juve and Fiorentina have won this morning making Inter's game with Lazio today that much more important. Inter have now began to shut me up with my criticisms of their plodding play by scoring 7 goals in their last two games against Udinese in the league and versus Cagliari in the Coppa Italia. Mauro Icardi has taken the responsibility of being both a goal producer and distributor for Inter and the Argentinian's brilliance has raised the level of all their attacking options. They should have another boatload of chances today against a banged up Lazio. Lazio sits mid-table after being a staple in the European places for the past several campaigns. Their defense has been their primary Achilles' heel especially away from home. They've let in 17 goals to just 4 scored away from home and will bring that record into a venomous San Siro this afternoon. The cynic in me says that Inter reverts back to their old ways in this one as Lazio can still counter with the best of them. But since I am trying to get out of my Liverpool-induced Grinch mood, I am going to veer into the positive lane and say that the leaders hold court and do it with some panache. PREDICTION: Inter Milan 3Lazio 0

We round out the day in Portugal with some Primeira Liga action in the mid-afternoon. When your fantasy football championship dreams are dashed, find a nice cantina that has Univision and bask in the fun that is FC Porto football. Along with the other three titans of Portuguese football, Porto they buy and churn out amazing talent on the cheap and then sell it on for astronomical figures. The next big thing to come from the 27x Portuguese champions should be on full display today against relegation bound Academica de Coimbra. 18 year old midfielder Ruben Neves has big clubs across Europe already clamoring for his signature. He was the youngest ever captain of a Porto Champions League team when he wore the armband for their October 20th game against Maccabi Tel-Aviv. Arsenal, Chelsea, and Liverpool have all reportedly inquired about his price and availability ahead of the January transfer window. Development and sales are all well and good, but Porto will be just as concerned with going top in this game. With Sporting playing before them, they'll know fully if they can or can't. They are going to win big in either case.PREDICTION: FC Porto 4 Academica 0

Enjoy today's supplemental football of the European variety to your huge American football Sunday. Fantasy football playoffs and real life playoff implications are on the line, but just know that Europe's finest are here to bring you back up when you are feeling down. As a Colts fan, I know I am going to need it. So join me in cracking a morning brew and let's immerse ourselves in all things football!

It's Saturday so you know what that means! A virtual football tour across Europe is upon us. May this weekend's selections be my early Christmas present to you. I know you asked for much more, but even though I'm fat, I'm no St. Nick. Instead I am just a humble fan of the sport attempting valiantly to spread the joy of all of Europe's many fantastic leagues to the masses. I also try to make a couple correct predictions every now and again as well. But enough about me and my less than stellar gift giving, let's get to the picks. As has been the case many a time, we head first to Germany as the Bundesliga plays their final weekend before their month long winter break.

Much of the attention surrounding Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich lately has been around manager Pep Guardiola. While Bayern have rebuilt a five point lead in the table, advanced to the DFB Pokal quarterfinals, and moved to the last 16 in the Champions League, Guardiola's saga still remains center stage. Reports keep surfacing that a move to Manchester City is all but a certainty for the former Barcelona man next year. Just don't tell Manchester United and Chelsea that. Bayern has even gone as far as to agree in principle with three-time Champions League winning manager Carlo Ancelotti to be Guardiola's replacement next year. So while the future of the Bavarian behemoths remains foggy, the present is clear skies. Bayern finishes up their 2015 this morning with a trip to the HDI-Arena in Hannover. The home side is currently in the relegation playoffs place. In Germany, the third worst team in the Bundesliga plays the third best team in the Bundesliga.2 for the last spot in the top flight the following year. They'll probably stay in that spot for at least one more week, because while Bayern should obliterate them, Wolfsburg should do the same to bottom of the table Stuttgart. Bayern are just too focused and cohesive a squad to let managerial fuss derail them. This game is over by halftime.PREDICTION: Bayern Munich 4Hannover 0

It is another battle of league leaders against the last survivor in our second game of the day. Four-time consecutive Scottish champion Celtic take on relegation battling Motherwell at Celtic Park. Since finishing second to Celtic in the 2013-14 Premiership, it has been a constant struggle for survival for The Steelmen. After their impressive finish, they were unceremoniously dumped out in the second qualifying round of the Europa League. Last year it took an absolute horror show of a finish by St. Mirren to keep them up. This year they are hovering just above the relegation playoff zone again. But things are looking as bright as they can in the dog days of Scottish winter for The Well. After having a game postponed due to high winds, they came back last week and won convincingly against Dundee 3-1. They also won't be that fearful of the champions as they were only beaten 1-0 in their last meeting at Fir Park. Celtic will also be without league leading scorer Leigh Griffiths. The striker just signed a new five year contract with the Hoops, but a calf injury will leave him in street clothes for this one. Although the odds are in Motherwell's favor more than they probably ever will be, I can't see Celtic dropping points at home to relegation fodder. They have yet to lose at Celtic Park this season.PREDICTION: Celtic 2 Motherwell 0

It's much more than a holiday miracle that Leicester City still sits atop the English Premier League. It will however take some magic for them to stay there with a brutal schedule over the next few weeks. The Foxes hold a two point lead over second placed Arsenal as they head to Goodison Park today to take on Everton. It only gets trickier for Claudio Ranieri's men. They stay in Merseyside next weekend but head to the red side of town to take on Liverpool on Boxing Day. They then host Manchester City on short rest at the King Power Stadium. Their new year's gift is Bournemouth, who has been a giant killer in their own right, contributing to Jose Mourinho's sacking as much as the leaders. Follow that up with consecutive games against Tottenham in the FA Cup and the league and it could be a cruel start to the new year for every neutral's favorite club. Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez remain in fine form, but Everton has their own goal machine in Romelu Lukaku. He's just over halfway to Vardy's record of 11 straight games with goal with six, and should get plenty of chances against Leicester's permeable defense. But the visitor's dynamic duo will have just as many opportunities as Everton hasn't exactly been Fort Knox in front of Tim Howard either. I think this will be one of the funner games of the day with play being wide open and both sides taking some auspicious efforts at each other's net. But in the end, I see it as a draw, and a Desmond special at that.PREDICTION: Leicester City 2 Everton 2

When one wants to talk about dominance in domestic European football, you need to look no further these days as to what PSG is doing in France's Ligue 1. Bayern has been king of Germany. Real Madrid and Barcelona have held court in Spain. The Manchester Clubs and Chelsea have played pass with the crown in England. But since their recent infusion of cash, no team has ruled more tyrannically in the big European leagues than Paris Saint-Germain. The Parisians have still yet to lose this year in Ligue 1 with 15 wins and 3 draws in their 18 games. Their 48 points at the moment leaves them just two shy of the Ligue 1 record for points at the midway mark of 50 set by Lyon in 2006-07. Their form this year also puts them on pace to shatter their own record for points in a year of 89 that they set two years ago. Laurent Blanc has his team thriving and all the pieces that seemed jagged just one year ago fit perfectly now. Even the constant links to Cristiano Ronaldo, and now Jose Mourinho, has not shifted the team's focus of a fourth consecutive league crown and deeper advancement in the Champions League. They should have the first all but wrapped up as they at the moment are 17 points ahead of second and third place and 18 in front of today's opponent Caen. Caen won't have to worry this week about losing their Europa League spot. With Nice already having played on Friday, this makes the PSG game more to show that they belong in France's upper echelon rather than one of desperation. Still, PSG make history this afternoon.PREDICTION: PSG 3Caen 1

The first foray into the Dutch Eredivisie (but the second time typing it, thanks Weebly!) on the European Soccer Picks is an interesting one. Across the majority of Europe's major leagues, the European places (Champions League, Europa League) in the standings are fairly set in stone. It takes a rogue winner, like Chelsea with the Champions League in 2011-12, to upset the status quo. That is not the case with European qualification in the Eredivisie. While the top three teams are guaranteed places in Europe's top club competitions, places 4 through 7 duke it out in a playoff to see who advances to the Europa League. It is a model that I feel would be glorious across the other big leagues on the continent, but would almost unanimously be shot down by the owners and boards. But the Netherlands have produced some fun football with the idea and this year will be no exception. Two teams tussling in those playoff spots right now are fifth placed Heracles and sixth placed Groningen. Groningen made the Europa League last year as KNVB Cup winners after finishing just outside the playoff places in eighth. Heracles nearly did the same in 2011-12 losing in the final of the KNVB Cup. Now both are trying to go the playoff route this year as both have been eliminated from the cup. As both teams play very similar styles, the deciding factor for me today was where the game was being played. With the game in Almelo at the Polman Stadion, I had to go with Heracles. Groningen's scoring is a mirror image away than it is at home, and that's a bad thing. They've scored just 5 road goals and conceded 15 as opposed to 15 scored and 5 conceded at Euroborg.PREDICTION: Heracles 2 Groningen 1

Enjoy the day's festivities as it will surely distract you from the 42, yes FORTY FUCKING TWO, bowl games that will take place over the next couple weeks. Crack open an AM beer at a bar, in your living room, or wherever you are viewing the action and have yourself a holly jolly Soccer Saturday!

Well, let's try this again. Thanks to the awful concept of tap clicking (which my computer idiotically won't let me turn off) and Weebly's seemingly missing auto-save, I completely lost the original copy of today's picks. Granted, with the way Liverpool is playing right now, that isn't necessarily a 100% bad thing for me at the moment. But as I am trying more to focus on the puddle of positive in my life rather than the sea of negative, let's get back up on this horse and start again. I'll add another game from another league to make up for the lost Liverpool/West Brom prediction, but I assure you as I'll be doing this while the game is currently going, a rant or cuss word or two is apt to leak into the content. So without further ado, let's try this again by heading to Portugal as the third amigo in the Primeira Liga hierarchy tries to fend off the hard charging European powers.

If you look at the historical winners of the Portuguese Liga over the past 50 years, it has been a Benfica and Porto parade pretty much every year. In fact there have been only three other winners of the league EVER. Belenenses in 1945-46, Boavista's shock victory in 2000-01, and Sporting Lisbon are the only other clubs to lift Portugal's most prestigious prize. While Sporting is entrenched in the league's history, they haven't even been the bridesmaid in Portugal this past decade. More often than not they are the flower girl as they watch Benfica and Porto secure guaranteed UCL football while they toil in qualifying. This year has started off differently though as Sporting has advanced in Europa League and kept themselves at the top of the Portuguese table simultaneously. Today they take on Moreirense to keep it that way. With Porto winning at the moment, Sporting will have to get a clear victory over the lower table Verdes e Brancos to maintain their top position. They'll need Algerian international Islam Slimani to continue his fine goal scoring form. He is third in the division in scoring and netted the equalizing catalyst in Sporting's comeback against Besiktas to advance in the UEL. Moreirense will buckle down to try for a low scoring affair, but I think Slimani gets on the scoresheet today and keeps the Lisbon Lions top for at least one more week.PREDICTION: Sporting Lisbon 3Moreirense FC 0

Both Madrid clubs are looking to make up ground today in La Liga. With Barcelona's uncharacteristic meltdown against Deportivo La Coruna, Atletico and Real have a previously unexpected chance to make up ground on the league leaders. Barcelona had a two goal lead evaporate into a draw with Deportivo, making Atletico's game with Athletic Bilbao and Real's with Villarreal must wins today. I chose the latter game because Villarreal has just as much on the line at the moment. The Yellow Submarine host Real Madrid at the El Madrigal today, a place that has been a fortress for them in the league this year. Only Barcelona (21) have taken more points at home than Villarreal has at their ground (16). They are facing a very angry, and now healthy, Real Madrid team today though. Los Blancos had their appeal with the CAS for re-entry into the Copa Del Rey rejected this past week. They were given the old heave-ho from the King's Cup after fielding an ineligible Denis Cheryshev in their game against Cadiz. Cheryshev scored in the game, but Real manager Rafa Benitez had neglected to remember that the Russian was ineligible for the contest having picked up a suspension in the competition on loan last year with...Villarreal. While their spite may be misplaced towards Villarreal, Madrid is coming in in smashing form. Cristiano Ronaldo scored four against Malmo and Karim Benzema had a hat trick in a 8-0 annihilation of Malmo in the Champions League. Those two and Gareth Bale all scored in the same game for the first time ever in Real's last La Liga game against Getafe. Villarreal manager Marcelino is all but conceding defeat saying that "I worry about our defensive balance because just scoring as many as possible to win games isn't sustainable." I don't think that Marcelino's men are in for a Malmo-esque beating, but they are in for a long day in front of their home fans.PREDICTION: Real Madrid 4 Villarreal 0

With Inter Milan's big win yesterday, the match between Fiorentina and Juventus today in Turin just got a bit bigger. Fiorentina are desperately seeking their first Scudetto since 1969 and feel this squad has the best chance to end that lengthy drought. Nikola Kalinic leads the most potent attack in Serie A today into the lion's den of the Juventus Stadium. Juve was left for dead like a fallen gladiator early on as the Champions League runners-up struggled in the season's early months. But while their forwards still continue to build trust, their defense has solidified allowing the Old Lady to steadily ascend up the Italian first division. (LFC ALERT: UGH, CORNERS) Paulo Dybala has cemented himself as a top class striker for the four time defending champions. He's taken the mantle as Juve's resident Argentinian bulldog from Carlos Tevez and ran with it. But while Fiorentina is getting headlines domestically for their offense, their defense shouldn't be neglected either. They have let in just one more goal than Juve (12 to 11) allowing them to boast a Serie A best +18 goal differential. After going back and forth with this game, I couldn't see it not ending in a draw. Juventus' may have won five straight, but their home form is just as good as Fiorentina's away. They match up so well with each other on each level of the pitch and it will take something special from either side to get a winner.PREDICTION: Fiorentina 1Juventus 1

​All of Europe will descend on France next summer as the European Championships will take place across their countryside. The hosts drew a fairly easy group in Albania, Romania, and Switzerland. But the draw may have put an extra bit of fire in Ligue 1's most marketable player, PSG striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic. The Swede and his countrymen have been drawn in the "Group of Death" with Belgium, Italy, and the Republic of Ireland. Look for Zlatan and his club compatriots to take that frustration out on downtrodden Lyon. Even with a win over Valencia, Lyon is probably at their lowest point of the 2015-16 season. They are out of European football altogether as they finished rock bottom in their Champions League group. They haven't won in Ligue 1 in over a month and now find themselves on the outside of the European places heading into next year. Their strikers are misfiring and their defense looks flustered. A trip to the Parc des Princes, a place that PSG hasn't lost at all year, isn't necessarily what they want to see right now. As PSG await their fate in the UCL draw, they will continue to take care of business domestically. I don't see any way Lyon make anything of this game today, and it could easily be worse than I predicted. Oh Merci me. (Yes I know that is grammatically incorrect!)PREDICTION: Paris Saint-Germain 4Lyon 1

As I sweat through eight minutes of stoppage time at Anfield, I hope you enjoy the day's European football supplement to football of the American variety. I'll be back next week with more picks and hopefully introduce a new league to the fold. Follow all the action along with me @TREVORutley and the site @B3WHYC3 on Twitter. Crack open a beer, fuck technology, and have at it!

Saturdays become harder and harder to wake up on as the days get shorter and colder. However, it is somehow 50+ degrees still so I can't use that as an excuse. I think I need to save some of the beers I had from Friday night for Saturday morning. Because what is a great schedule of games without proper refreshment? We got action from four leagues this morning and afternoon to help get your day off and running. So crack open a beer, I'll have a Belgian brew in honor of Romelu Lukaku getting my FPL day off to a flying start, and let's head to the EPL for a mid-table matchup that could shake up the table.

Since Alan Pardew took over the reins as Crystal Palace manager in January, the Eagles have been one of the most consistently good sides in the Premier League. He has them soaring at unprecedented heights in the Premier League this season. They sit just outside the Europa League spot in the table, sixth, as they host 12th placed Southampton this morning at Selhurst Park. Now 6th versus 12th shouldn't be too compelling to you at face value. But when you see that only two points separate the two clubs, it A) shows how much parity is in the league right now and B) how said parity can cause seismic shifts in the standings with just one game. Crystal Palace will attempt to avenge their Boxing Day defeat last season at home to the Saints without some key attacking options. Bakary Sako, Dwight Gayle, and Mile Jedinak will all be in street clothes for this one. Their opponents may be in better health, but they can't be in better spirits. Southampton haven't won in any competition in a month and that was over relegation fodder Sunderland. Last week they had to scrape for a point with rock bottom Aston Villa. I think this should be a real back and forth game with plenty of chances for both sides. In the end though, I think the home side will have more of those chances, including at least one from a set piece, hit the back of the net.PREDICTION: Crystal Palace 2Southampton 1

The Bundesliga's reputation took a slight hit in European circles this week as both participants in this game were ousted from the Champions League. While Leverkusen will hope to parlay the Europa League berth into a Champions League place next year, Gladbach will have to keep their focus on the Bundesliga as they are out of Europe entirely. The Borussians may be downtrodden with that fact, but they will be more than happy to continue their sublime form domestically. They travel to Leverkusen's BayArena today having not lost a league game since September 19th. That includes a 3-1 dismantling of Bayern Munich last week. It was Bayern's first Bundesliga loss of the year and just the second time in any competition (Arsenal in the UCL being the other) that a team scored more than one goal on the Bavarian juggernauts. Gladbach will have another stiff test today in trying to stop Javier Hernandez. Chicharito has scored 12 goals in his last 11 games across all competitions and doesn't shy away from a big moment. It is the cliched irresistible force against the immovable object. There will be goals in this one, and one may just come from Leverkusen's Mexican superstar, but in the end the higher number will be under the name of the visitors.PREDICTION: Borussia Mönchengladbach 3 Bayer Leverkusen 1

Another team bound for the UEFA Europa League after elimination from the Champions League is Spanish club Sevilla. While some may see it as a demotion, Sevilla sees the Europa League as a place to assert their dominance. It should be because Sevilla are back to back Europa League champions. They also won the competition back to back times in 2006 and 2007 when it was the UEFA Cup. The only other club to do it in any iteration of the competition even once is Real Madrid who did so in the 1985 and 1986 UEFA Cups. Sevilla is looking to become the first ever three-peat winner. Now with the caveat of the Europa League winner getting an automatic Champions League spot, Sevilla now has a second path back to the UCL. That is because their domestic form this year is leaving a lot to be desired. But with that being said they can get as high as seventh today with a win against Sporting Gijon. If Gijon are going to spoil the party, they'll need a repeat of last week's performance from 19 year old striker Antonio Sanabria. On loan from Roma, the Paraguayan teenager became the youngest (19 years, 277 days) hat trick scorer in any top league in Europe when he put three past Las Palmas. He also had a brace in a win over Deportivo earlier in the year. If Sanabria gets on the board, it isn't just going to be one. Sadly, I don't think he will today at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan as Sevilla start their post-UCL lives off on the right foot.PREDICTION: Sevilla 2 Sporting Gijon 0

Inter has been one of the harder on the eyes clubs at the top of any table in Europe. I had thought the Serie A leaders had finally broken out of their shell with a 4-0 win against Frosinone (one of my few spot on predictions by the way), but alas it was just a mirage. Today they go to Udinese in what should be a meshing of painful to watch football styles. While Udinese understandably leaks more at the back due to lesser defenders, their unwillingness in attack is eerily similar to Inter. Both sides will absorb pressure and look to counter attack, but those counters themselves lack urgency and tact. It almost seems as if either team scores out of nowhere or by accident. There isn't much else to say about this match that doesn't just become vitriolic and supremely negative. This game reeks of a nil-nil draw, but I'll say Inter gets a late winner to keep ahead of Fiorentina who have quite the big game tomorrow which you will probably see here on the picks.PREDICTION: Inter Milan 1Udinese 0

Enjoy today's quartet of games as they lead into the lone college football game this afternoon, Army vs Navy. Throw back some suds and keep an eye on @TREVORutley and @B3WHYC3 on Twitter as I'll probably be tweeting about these games...and wanting to fall back asleep. As always, check back tomorrow for some more picks and have a good one!

It was a hell of a day for the underdog yesterday across the European football landscape. Stoke downed Manchester City 2-0 with two Marko Anautovic efforts in less than eight minutes. Bayern Munich suffered just their second league defeat all season in a 3-1 result against Borussia Monchengladbach. American international Fabian Johnson scored the dagger for Die Borussen. Angers made sure that Lyon's final moments at the Stade Gerland were sour, defeating the home side 2-0 and moving to second in Ligue 1. The most shocking, and satisfying, bit of football magic came at Stamford Bridge as a late Glenn Murray goal helped Bournemouth earn a victory for the ages over Chelsea. Will there be underdog fairy dust in the air again today? Let's head to France first and see if I believe that to be the case.

There won't be any type of particular upset today in the Ligue 1 clash between Guingamp and Bordeaux. Both clubs are near the relegation zone in the table, but neither is far off from a decent amount of success in French football. Guingamp have won two Coupe de Frances in six years (2009, 2014) and made the knockout stage of the Europa League last season. Bordeaux participated in that same competition this year after finishing sixth in Ligue 1 last year. While I doubt either of these teams will end up being relegated, today's game is crucial to putting distance between themselves and the drop. Neither team is going to set the world on fire in attack, but both have men who can get a goal in the clutch. Tunisian international Wahbi Khazri is a set piece aficionado for Bordeaux. The 24 year old midfielder has scored four times this season and three of his five assists have come from set pieces. He has drawn interest from both Spanish and English clubs ahead of the January window. Nobody is knocking on Guingamp's door showering them with cash for Jimmy Briand, but the former French international has been a stabilizing force for the team during this rocky season. The winger has scored three times and registered just as many assists on the year. There has been nothing but talk about attack so far, but this game will ultimately come down to which Cedric Carrasso shows up in net for Bordeaux. When he's on, Bordeaux look a European challenger. When he's off, which has been often this year, they are putrid. I'll go with him being good today as Bordeaux takes all three points at home.PREDICTION: Bordeaux 2Guingamp 1

I have been smiling ear to ear as a Liverpool supporter since Jurgen Klopp arrived to revive the Kop. The team is in smashing form and all the parts that seemed ill-fitting under Brendan Rodgers have been melded together to make some sort of footballing Megazord. Things have been quite the opposite for Newcastle United under Steve McCLaren. Liverpool head to St. James' Park today coming off a 6-1 undressing of Southampton in the midweek in which Divock Origi netted a hat trick for his first three goals in a Liverpool shirt. Newcastle on the other hand have lost their last two games to Leicester City and Crystal Palace by a combined margin of 8-1. The Magpies are going to be in the relegation zone even with a win (they'd need to win by five clear goals to get out) but it may be a tough ask against England's, and maybe Europe's hottest team at the moment. The good news for Newcastle is that the game is at home where at least they look like they can score. They've scored 14 goals in the league this year, but 11 of those have come on their home pitch. Liverpool are just as dangerous under Klopp away as they are at home, maybe even more so. It will be interesting to see if Daniel Sturridge makes the starting XI after scoring twice in the Capital One Cup. The oft-injured striker is still recovering from his latest setback which means he may be coming off the bench like he did versus Swansea in his first game back. Liverpool don't need Sturridge to start though to beat this Newcastle side. They may get one past the in-form Simon Mignolet, but there is no way their tissue paper defense is keeping Liverpool off the scoresheet at all, if not in bunches.PREDICTION: Liverpool 3 Newcastle 1

When we started the season in Serie A, one would have thought that Sampdoria would be battling for a Europa League spot and Sassuolo would be fighting for survival. A third of the way into the season those roles have been reversed between the two clubs. Sassuolo's tiny stadium (4,000 capacity) is still used for their training sessions, but they play their games at rival club Modena's park. That information is useless today as the game is at Sampdoria's Stadio Luigi Ferraris other than to point out how truly remarkable Sassuolo is doing on a shoestring budget. Sampdoria have their own budgetary woes this year, but that is more of their own doing than other circumstances. President Massimo Ferrero had assets seized early in the season and was sentenced to jail time for tax evasion. The purse strings tightened even further when the Blucerchiati Serie A rookie manager Walter Zenga in favor of the more experienced, and alas more expensive, Vincenzo Montella from Fiorentina. Sassuolo are not the same team on the road as they are at home, but I believe that they can go to Sampdoria and get a result to push them within one point of a Europa League place in the Serie A table. It won't be the flashiest of games, but it will prove that Sassuolo has more staying power in the top half of the table than most folks think.PREDICTION: Sassuolo 1Sampdoria 0

Enjoy this fine batch of supplemental European football for your American football Sunday. If you are so inclined, and you probably are at least a bit if you are reading this, check out the MLS Cup Final today at 4:00 PM on ESPN. The NFL games will all be blowouts and while the game between Columbus and Portland may not have the league's most glittering names, they surely know how to infuse drama into a big match setting. So get those beers cracked, fire up your television or laptop and have at it!

Welcome back for another week of European footballing goodness as I virtually travel across the pond to do my best to give you a full slate of the best of the beautiful game to occupy your Saturday morning and afternoon. If you are like me and you woke up to Stoke already being up 2-0 on Manchester City, you're already getting the AM brewskis cracked and flowing. Let's keep that up as we first head to that Barclays Premier League for a game where history could be extended.

Unless you've been in a coma or under a rock (which by the way can't be comfortable, what human sleeps under a rock?), you know that Jamie Vardy broke Ruud Van Nistelrooy's consecutive games scoring record by netting in his 11th straight against the Dutchman's former club Manchester United. He looks to make it a dozen today against a Swansea City side struggling to find their way in their second year under manager Garry Monk. Leicester's playing style is conducive to goals being scored on both sides. They are the only team in the Premierships to score in every one of their games thus far in 2015-16 yet also boast the seventh worst defensive record. That fact should be a focal point for Monk as he looks to wake up an attack that has scored just seven times in three months. Well, that and stopping Vardy. Nobody has been able to thus far and even if somehow the Swans bottle him up they still have Riyad Mahrez (7 goals) and Shinji Okazaki (2 goals) to worry about. Monk has urged his defenders to want the pride of being the first team to stop Vardy's Cinderella run. I just don't think his patchwork defense has it in them this morning. I'm saying Vardy gets his 12th straight with a goal and either Mahrez or Okazaki nets the Foxes their second and they go back top in the table.PREDICTION: Leicester City 2Swansea City 1

More history is on the line today in Germany as second and third clash in the Bundesliga. Borussia Dortmund travel to the Volkswagen Arena to take on Wolfsburg with more than just three more points towards catching Bayern Munich hanging in the balance. The hosts will try for their 30th straight home game without a defeat against the team directly ahead of them in the standings. Dortmund will be happy to play spoilers, but are more worried about keeping pace with a Bayern Munich team that plays three hours before them against Borussia Monchengladbach. However, things may not be as easy on Thomas Tuchel's men as they may be without three starting defenders due to illness. Defense won't be a problem for Wolfsburg, boasting a second best mark of six clean sheets. They'd love to make it seven but to do so will have to throw a ton of pressure on the league's leading scorer Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. He's scored in four of his last five games, with seven total netted in that span. The Gabon international has scored 17 of Dortmund's 40 goals all season. While Wolfsburg are probably just as worried about their big game with Manchester United in the Champions League next week, they won't look past Dortmund here. I think the losses at the back will be just too much for the visitors and it will be enough for Wolfsburg to make up ground as well as make history.PREDICTION: Wolfsburg 2 Borussia Dortmund 1

SPANISH LA LIGAValencia CF vs FC Barcelona (2:30 PM ET/beIN Sports)

We round up today's action with an intriguing matchup in Spain between two Champions League participants Valencia and Barcelona. While their Champions League performances have been polar opposite to date, both sides still look to go through while making domestic headlines as well. Barcelona put two players on the FIFA Ballon d'Or shortlist as Neymar and Lionel Messi battle with Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo for the billing as the world's best player. The duo believed the other piece of their MSN Network, Luis Suarez, should have joined them on the podium in Zurich, but I think the hyper competitive Uruguayan will take being six points up in the standings over Los Blancos than a gold ball any day. Valencia sits in ninth place in the La Liga table right now, so it is no surprise that manager Nuno got his walking papers. Who they replaced him with at the Estadio de Mestalla was a bit of a curveball though. Gary Neville, right back of Manchester United fame and current England assistant and TV pundit, was brought in by business partner (and Valencia owner) Peter Lim to right the ship. His bilingual brother Phil, of Everton and Man U notoriety, will serve as his assistant to help bridge the language barrier that Neville's new post brings. Now Neville will be in the stands today at the Mestalla, and he'll get a glimpse of what he's got himself into. Los Che could move into the European spots with a win, but Barca is just playing too well right now for Neville's tenure in Spain to get off on the right foot.PREDICTION: Barcelona 3 Valencia 1

Now Manchester City fans, poor out a little bit of that beer I know you have open for your fallen Citizens. As a Liverpool fan seeing Stoke succeed isn't something I particularly enjoy either. Take your mind off that with these games and come back tomorrow for some more football across Europe. Crack open another beer and let's have at it!